She continued to work on songs with Ricky Peterson as producer and wrote more songs with Francis Jules as [[Prince]] was busy with other projects ([[File:Symbolblue.png|link=Album: Symbol]], albums for [[Album: The Voice|Mavis Staples]], [[Album: Carmen Electra|Carmen Electra]] and [[The NPG]]’s [[Album: Gold Nigga|Gold Nigga]] amongst others).

She continued to work on songs with Ricky Peterson as producer and wrote more songs with Francis Jules as [[Prince]] was busy with other projects ([[File:Symbolblue.png|link=Album: Symbol]], albums for [[Album: The Voice|Mavis Staples]], [[Album: Carmen Electra|Carmen Electra]] and [[The NPG]]’s [[Album: Gold Nigga|Gold Nigga]] amongst others).

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She reworked old songs ([[I Want U]] and [[My Tender Heart]]) and continued to record new songs, including one offered by [[Prince]] ([[Extraordinary]]) while the release date of [[Album: Concrete Jungle|Concrete Jungle]] on [[Paisley Park Records]] is pushed back several times. [[My Tender Heart]], planned as the [[Single: My Tender Heart|first single]] from the album, was performed on [[TV Special: The Ryde Dyvine|The Ryde Dyvine]] TV special at the end of 1992, suggesting a release of [[Album: Concrete Jungle|Concrete Jungle]] in 1993.

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She reworked old songs ([[I Want U]] and [[My Tender Heart]]) and continued to record new songs, including one offered by [[Prince]] ([[Extraordinary]]) while the release date of [[Album: Concrete Jungle|Concrete Jungle]] on [[Paisley Park Records]] is pushed back several times. [[My Tender Heart]], planned as the [[Single: My Tender Heart|first single]] from the album, was performed on [[TV Film: The Ryde Dyvine|The Ryde Dyvine]] TV special at the end of 1992, suggesting a release of [[Album: Concrete Jungle|Concrete Jungle]] in 1993.

In early 1993, [[Carmen Electra]]'s album was released after six months of delay due to Warner's reticence, [[Prince]] pushing the project and a disproportionate budget spent : it was a commercial and critical failure. Albums by [[Album: The Voice|Mavis Staples]], [[Album: Hey Man... Smell My Finger|George Clinton]] and [[Eric Leeds]] ([[Album: Things Left Unsaid|Things Left Unsaid]]) followed, without any significant commercial impact.

In early 1993, [[Carmen Electra]]'s album was released after six months of delay due to Warner's reticence, [[Prince]] pushing the project and a disproportionate budget spent : it was a commercial and critical failure. Albums by [[Album: The Voice|Mavis Staples]], [[Album: Hey Man... Smell My Finger|George Clinton]] and [[Eric Leeds]] ([[Album: Things Left Unsaid|Things Left Unsaid]]) followed, without any significant commercial impact.

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After multiple configurations, a firm and final date for [[Album: Concrete Jungle|Concrete Jungle]] on [[Paisley Park Records]] is announced for 22 March 1994. Unfortunately the release never comes to fruition after the label folds in February 1994.

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After multiple configurations, a firm and final date for [[Album: Concrete Jungle|Concrete Jungle]] on [[Paisley Park Records]] is announced for 22 March 1994. Unfortunately the release never came to fruition after the label folded in February 1994.

[[Album: Concrete Jungle|Concrete Jungle]] was at that point containing 13 songs: [[I Want U]] (Inner City Blue) / Goo gaga (Making It Up As We Go Along) / Ooh La La / [[My Tender Heart]] / [[Hit U In The Socket]] / Do What You Wanna Do / Concrete Jungle / Get The Ghetto Off Your Mind / JAH Love / The Bitch / In The Middle Of The Garden / I Almost Lost You / Play That Beat.

[[Album: Concrete Jungle|Concrete Jungle]] was at that point containing 13 songs: [[I Want U]] (Inner City Blue) / Goo gaga (Making It Up As We Go Along) / Ooh La La / [[My Tender Heart]] / [[Hit U In The Socket]] / Do What You Wanna Do / Concrete Jungle / Get The Ghetto Off Your Mind / JAH Love / The Bitch / In The Middle Of The Garden / I Almost Lost You / Play That Beat.

She continued her solo career after leaving the band by releasing six albums. Her most notable hit is "Closer Than Close" released in a remixed form in 1997.

Musical Career

Early Life

Originally from Pittsburg, California and the younger daughter of ten children, Rosie Gaines began singing at the age of five. Her father was stabbed to death when she was only four years-old. She had a daughter, Latoya, at the age of thirteen.

Early Musical Career

She began her musical career in the 1980s by participating in various bands ("Unity", "A Touch Of Class" and "The Oasis") between her hometown and Oakland, California. She joined a band lead by Curtis Ohlson (former bass player of Ray Charles and Buddy Rich, with whom she was married for two years), in which Levi Seacer, Jr. also performed as a guitarist.

Its single, "Skool-ology" was a minor success (Position 72 in Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts) but the album flopped. Later in the year, Levi left Curtis Ohlson’s band to join Sheila E. and then Prince subsequent years. Rosie continued to work with Curtis Ohslon, who released two albums on which she added some vocals: "So Fast" in 1987 and "Better Than Ever" in 1989.

In Pittsburg, Rosie Gaines played and became an attraction at local venues as Earle’s Solano Club, Yoshi’s and the Great American Music Hall. A second solo album, in collaboration with Curtis Ohlson and Patrick Moten was finalized and ready for release in 1987 but its release was canceled due to management changes at Epic.

He also asked Rosie to join his new band in anticipation of his upcoming Nude Tour, as a replacement for Boni Boyer, whom left the band following the Lovesexy Tour. Subsequently she also appeared in the film Graffiti Bridge as a band member.

Diamonds And Pearls album was released in October 1991, the first credited to Prince & The New Power Generation : Rosie Gaines was highlighted on more than half of the album with her singing, rapping and co-writing. She was given an prominent role the singles videos and during the tour that followed. Behind the scenes, though, she suffered the bullying of some members of the band who, like during the Nude Tour, seemed to resent her prominent role on stage.

Becoming increasingly frustrated by the income she earned, while she had a family to support, she then had a falling-out with Prince when he discovered that she approached record companies for a possible contract. Rosie Gaines decided to quit The New Power Generation after the Diamonds And Pearls Tour but chose to stay in Prince’s camp, hoping to be able to release her album on Paisley Park Records.

After multiple configurations, a firm and final date for Concrete Jungle on Paisley Park Records is announced for 22 March 1994. Unfortunately the release never came to fruition after the label folded in February 1994.

Concrete Jungle was at that point containing 13 songs: I Want U (Inner City Blue) / Goo gaga (Making It Up As We Go Along) / Ooh La La / My Tender Heart / Hit U In The Socket / Do What You Wanna Do / Concrete Jungle / Get The Ghetto Off Your Mind / JAH Love / The Bitch / In The Middle Of The Garden / I Almost Lost You / Play That Beat.

After leaving the Prince camp, Rosie worked on the album further, adding some new songs and removing others. Without a label, she tried unsuccessfully to release the album, now called Try Me in 1994 but gained interest from Motown.

Closer than close

In 1995, after further work and changes, Rosie Gaines finally releases her second solo album, now called Closer Than Close, ten years after "Caring".

The album did not gain a lot of attention, but the single "Closer Than Close" was released to some success in its remixed version two years later. The song reached position 4 in the UK chart and became a dance-club favorite. Many dance remixes by various DJs were then produced.

Despite the success of the song (almost one million copies sold), Rosie Gaines had to launch a legal action against Peter Williamsons and his label Big Bang Records. The case went nowhere as Peter Williamson was already in jail serving a five-year sentence for theft. The other two singles I Want U and "Are You Ready" had a much more moderate success.

In 1997, Rosie Gaines created her own independent label (Dredlix Records) and opened her own website to distribute her music, www.rosiegaines.com (now closed). Her third official solo album in February 1997, "Arrival" with 10 songs composed by her with Dana Bailey and her husband Francis Jules (the trio being called the Dredlix team).

"Arrival" was pressed on CD with 2,000 copies made and sold exclusively on her website in 2002.

In 2000, Expansion Records released her 1987 album "No Sweeter Love" made during her time with Curtis Ohlson and produced by Patrick Moten. The album was ‘lost’ after management changes at Epic Records, but was rescued by the label and released after Patrick Moten’s passing in 1999.

Many remixes or collaborations with artists in the house scene help her to keep a relative exposure at the end of the 90’s.

In 2004, she published her fifth solo album "You Gave Me Freedom". All the song were written and performed by Rosie Gaines, with the help of the Dredlix team and Scott Gibson.

The transitional album Try Me originally planned for release in 1994 was offered for download on rosiegaines.com in 2005.

The following year, "Welcome To My World" was released with the house label SUsu. With Francis Jules and Dana Bailey on most tracks, this album contains a remix of "Closer Than Close" and new compositions. None of those albums had any chart impact.

Since these releases, Rosie Gaines has retracted from the public eye, both on her site and on social networks. She gave her last performance in London in 2011. Her eighth album "Soul Survivor" which combines songs from "You Gave Me Freedom", "Arrival" and new compositions received a low-key release on the internet.

Health issues

Her health condition had deteriorated through the years. In 2009, she was admitted to the psychiatric ward of a hospital in Rotterdam, after an insulin overdose and seizure. A missing person report was filed by her daughter Latoya Gaines at some point in 2014. Rosie Gaines was found living in a homeless shelter in Richmond, Virginia and she refused housings offered by her friends. During that year, nobody was able to reach her, as she had no telephone and no internet connection. She wasn't able to collect her royalties since her bank accounts were closed and had no clothes except pajamas.

In December 2014, Rosie Gaines was hospitalized again after sustaining a leg infection as a result of halting taking insulin. Her friend and singer Brenda Vaughn organized a fundraiser benefit with dozens of artists mainly from Oakland including Levi Seacer, Jr., Tony Toni Tone’sD’Wayne Wiggins and Maxine Jones of En Vogue in January 2015 at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle in Oakland, California.